Boruto and Sarada finally face off! I'd love to hear thoughts on this: Should the next chapter go back to what caused their fight or should the story just continue? It doesn't have much to do with the overall story of course, but some people had said they were interested in what caused their fallout.

And you will never see my side
And I will always think I'm right
But I always regret the night
I told you I would hate you 'til forever

CHVRCHES "Forever"

Sasuke was right. Of course he was right, he was always right, at least in Boruto's experience. How could he just freeze like that and do nothing? Why did he shy away from telling Sarada how he felt if it meant saving his relationship and his children? When did he turn into such a coward? As Boruto stormed across town, he felt the fearful persona he was wearing like a heavy cloak shed off of him and he couldn't even recognize who he was just minutes before. He was newly empowered and he wasn't going to leave until Sarada knew exactly how he felt.

He didn't slow down for a second when he reached the hospital, thinking she was still there, and with the newly electrifying confidence sparking his body he burst into the room he last saw her in. "Sarada-" Though he didn't know exactly what he wanted to say, he knew the words would just flow out of him. However, instead of being greeted by the girl he expected to see, he just saw a freshly made up bed. "Oh," he sputtered and stopped in his tracks. How anticlimactic.

"Are you looking for Sarada?"

He turned around to see Sakura leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed. She was wearing a neutral expression, but he could feel his body unconsciously slink away from her like she was about to attack him.

"Y-yeah," he tried to say strongly.

"She's at home." Sakura pushed herself off the doorframe and started walking toward him, and Boruto had to consciously make himself plant his feet down to stand his ground. She stopped inches from his face and crossed her arms again. "So, did Sasuke talk to you?" she asked.

"Yeah. And I'm sorry."

She just nodded as though she knew what he was sorry for. "What's your goal here?"

"I know you probably hate me." Boruto tried to reconcile all the confidence he had walking into the hospital and forced himself to look Sakura in the face as he spoke. "And honestly I don't blame you- I hate me too right now. But I take full responsibility here, really, so please don't be hard on Sarada."

Sakura tried to read Boruto's expression, weighing whether or not the little boy she used to know was hidden behind the uncrackable serious face of a man. "It takes two, you know," she said.

"Yeah but I have to be the one to take charge." He started to walk past her. "We can talk more later but I need to talk to Sarada right now. See you later, Aunt Sakura." Sakura watched Boruto march out the door again in awe like her husband of the newfound maturity she witnessed in him. "Just like his dad," she muttered to herself.

Boruto tried to think of what to say now that he had more time to think but it was hard to conjure up every apology and emotion he felt for the last few months. All he knew was he had to get through to her. He didn't know how Sarada would respond either which worried him. If he didn't reach her, if he didn't convince her to not have an abortion, this could affect the village's future and potentially other nations as well, couldn't it? If their babies were supposed to be as strong as his father had figured and they could save the world? It seemed impossible to him that a simple falling out between two teenagers, a small pebble by any standards, could create such big ripples that could affect their entire world. Yet he had to admit that the falling out felt like death to him; it had squashed him like a twig and effectively cut off his oxygen. He hadn't felt like himself in weeks. So maybe the world would feel the same way if they lost their babies as he did when he lost Sarada- maybe all Uchihas left a big gaping hole in people's lives when they disappeared from them.

He wouldn't let the world experience that kind of loss. If his children could potentially save the world, he had to give them that chance.

He didn't care how loud the door slammed behind him as he hurried inside the Uchiha home. The noise startled Sarada even though she recognized the heavy footsteps that were rapidly progressing toward her room. As her door busted open she scrambled to sit up in bed and blurted out "Hey-"

"We need to talk," Boruto cut her off. He stopped in the doorway, hands to his side, unmoving, and Sarada couldn't help but think There's no way around him while she pulled her knees up to her chest as a way to protect herself from the intensity he was exuding. He was clearly not there to play.

They stared at each other without speaking as both struggled to figure out where to start, the schism between them lengthening even though they were only inches apart. They both knew the other person knew- that there were more than just the two of them in the room- and finally that thought became too loud for Boruto to handle. He didn't give Sarada a chance to snap out of her own shock before spouting all the words that had been building up.

"I'm sorry. I should've listened. Actually, I'm sorry that I never listen. I shouldn't have run away. I shouldn't have thought I was right, and I shouldn't have thought I could do this without you, and I shouldn't have let you walk away, and I shouldn't have let you go through any of this alone. Dammit." His stomach dropped in realizing again the weight of how long it took him to act and he could no longer stand still so he began to pace her bedroom the same way he did his own when Sasuke arrived.

Sarada watched him silently, her eyes following his nervous body fidgeting around her room. "Boruto-" she started.

"No, let me finish!" He was on a roll now that his brain was complying and he was desperate to make her understand his side.

"I know you hate me. I know I probably ruined everything, but dammit Sarada please don't do this." He stopped walking with tears welling up in his eyes and looked at her. "You tried to push me away and...and I can't believe I even let you. You had every right to, of course you did, but...but...but please let me be here. I want to be here. F-for our kids."

Sarada took a sharp breath as he crossed the bridge she had tried so desperately to sever the ropes to the day before. Now that he was on the other side she could no longer hide.

"I know you're scared and I know that was my fault," he cried. "I'm the one who put you in this position and I take responsibility for everything. But please, please, I am begging you, please don't have an abortion. I want to fix this and I want to give them a chance- oh my god, them. There's fucking two of them." He ran a hand through his hair in another wave of disbelief and started pacing again. "I'm not letting you push me away that easily. I know you don't want to be a mom but you can trust me; what can I do to prove to you that we can do this? What can I do to change your mind?!" The words were coming faster now, a slight whine to his voice, and he couldn't stop them. "I'm scared too but we've always done everything together, right? We've gotten through every mission because we had each other to back the other up. This is just another mission, only it's just for us. It might be a very long mission this time but I know we can do this because we're a team, and I know I've done a shitty job showing this, but there's no one else I'd rather be on a team with. I can't believe I actually thought we could go on without each other. We've always been partners. Always. And we always will be. If you just let me." Boruto took a deep breath as he ended and stopped pacing to look at Sarada but she didn't even move. Seconds ticked by like hours as they just stared into each other's eyes, Boruto standing over her with tears streaking his face and Sarada looking up at him glass-eyed, and he could feel himself deflate with each passing second.

"Dammit, Sarada, SAY SOMETHING."

Sarada herself couldn't believe the words he just spouted- Did he mean them? Could he actually feel that way?- and she was having trouble bringing words to her lips. All at once she wanted to kiss him and slap him. "You said in the beginning you're sorry you didn't listen yet you didn't let me speak," she finally quipped quietly.

"What?"

"You said 'I'm sorry I never listen' but you cut me off when I tried to say something."

Boruto's eyes bulged. "That's what you have to say?! After I just spilled my whole fucking heart out?!"

"No…"

"Then what do you want to say?!" he squeaked, throwing his arms in the air.

She wanted to laugh seeing him get this worked up so quickly again after she was clearly teasing him, but instead she just unwrapped her arms from around her knees and let herself finally open. "I want to say," she began, "that I love you."

"Wait...what?" He had to reach for her desk behind him to steady himself, the world feeling like it had been pulled like a rug beneath him.

"You heard me."

I love you. Boruto could feel his head spinning now. Surely she didn't just say that...he just wished she said that, right? Because there was no way she spoke the words he had been quietly hoping to hear for the last whoever knew how many years. Hearing them was like a cold drink of water after a long mission and he wanted to drink from it again and again and-

"I'm sorry, I don't think I caught that...can you say it again?"

Sarada rolled her eyes and sat up straighter against the wall. "Don't make me say it again," she groaned.

"Please," he begged. "Just one more time."

"I love you, you idiot-" But before she could finish her sentence he bounded the two steps to her bed, effectively closing the physical and metaphorical space between them, and grabbed her face to kiss her.

He was wrong before: 'I love you' wasn't the drink of water he needed to cool down, this kiss was. It was somehow a paradox, the kiss both heating him up and cooling him down simultaneously. He hadn't realized how much he missed it, craved it, needed it. How did he ever think he could hide from her? How did he ever let his ego get in the way?

Sarada leaned into the kiss and allowed herself to lace her fingers into his hair, her walls melting away as his body moved against hers. The last few weeks didn't mean anything anymore and evaporated into the air as they deepened their kiss. After a few seconds, she felt her stomach suddenly flutter in both nausea and excitement and she pulled away. "This is what got us into this mess in the first place," she breathed into his ear.

Boruto found himself leaning in to chase her lips and purred back, "Yeah, but what's going to happen? You're going to get pregnant?" He leaned in again to kiss her but she brushed her lips against his then pulled away more quickly.

"What, is this my punishment?" he pouted.

"No. But you have two point five seconds to move out of the way before I throw up all over you and that will be your punishment."

He jumped up and in one motion grabbed the garbage next to her bed and brought it up to her. "I learned my lesson the other night," he muttered as Sarada quickly grabbed the edges and hurled directly into it. Normally he would have been disgusted, but he felt a fierce protectiveness fall over him and reached up to softly rub her back. He sat silently, a pillar of protection over her, and after a minute of heaving she finally stopped. "Sorry," she whispered into the can.

"You have nothing to be sorry about." He stopped rubbing her back, and using the same hand he tilted her chin up and leaned down to kiss her again. As his lips met hers, Sarada scrunched her face and tried to pull away.

"You're so gross!" she shrieked.

"What's wrong? Am I just not supposed to kiss you every time you throw up?" he scoffed. "That would mean I could potentially not kiss you for the next nine months and that is definitely not happening!"

Sarada pulled back further in order to search his eyes. "What are you saying?" she asked, seriously.

"I'm saying," he said, "that I'm here to stay. I'm not letting you push me away again."

Sarada could feel her eyes start to well over with tears again and she looked away to try to hide them. "You really are an idiot, you know that?" she hissed, embarrassed at how easily he could pull her undone.

Boruto sighed happily and leaned back with his arms behind his head. "I guess that's what being in love does to you, you know?" Her head snapped back to look at him. "What are you saying?" she asked again.

"Oh, what? That I love you too? I'm sorry, I could have said it sooner but I got too excited and kind of kissed you first- hey, are you okay?"

Sarada hid her face again, the tears burning as they quickly slid down her cheeks. He loved her too. She suddenly thought of how much time has passed since they were kids, since they became genin. Only a few years back he had been a nuisance to her and didn't mean all that much to her at all besides the annoying kid she thought she someday had to jockey with to become Hokage. Over time she had to create that meaning and trust, and soon they had spent so much time together that she couldn't even tell the moment that he became her best friend and greatest ally. They had grown so much together in strength and in memories from children, to genin, to now chunin- Boruto Uzumaki had always been the one constant in her life and he knew her better than anyone else. They were each other's rocks; no one knew how to push her harder or push her buttons more than he did. How far they had come since childhood, from getting on each other's nerves to protecting each other with their lives, the most valuable thing they had. And now they were bringing in new lives.

"I'm s-so sorry," she whimpered, "for everything. I was stupid."

Boruto pulled her into him and laid down, careful to place her head on his chest. "We were both stupid," he whispered into her hair. Her shampoo. It smells of sakura.

"No," she sniffled. "I was stupid for ever wanting to get rid of these babies...and for not telling you... all because I was too stubborn and thought you wouldn't want…" She trailed off, all her words jumbling in the back of her throat.

"Wouldn't want what? Them? You?"

"Yes. To both."

He let out a sigh. "Well, I want you. Bad. So what now, Sarada? Are you having an abortion?" he asked softly. "Or are we doing this?"

Sarada could feel her whole body tense up against his. It was the moment of truth. Even though she knew what she wanted, she had to officially accept the mission before her and make it real. "We're doing this," she echoed.

Laying on his chest, she could hear Boruto's heart rate spike immediately after her response. They were going to be parents. Neither teen moved for a few moments and in the silence felt themselves shift from children to adults; again, Sarada thought, another milestone they reached together.

Suddenly, Boruto shot a fist up into the air. "To the longest mission!" he declared forcefully.

"To the longest mission," Sarada echoed again, laughing through the tears.

"So what, do you think this is?" Boruto asked, his eyes sparkling mischievously at her. "An S-rank mission? At least an A-rank, right?"

"Oh, S-rank for sure."

The two fell into a fit of laughter until tears rolled down their cheeks. Sarada hadn't laughed like that since before their falling out and she let herself bury her head in his chest, reveling in feeling him against her once more as the truth and his laughter washed over her: It was going to be okay.

As their laughter died down, their energy did too until they both lay silently against each other, just a tangle of arms and legs. "I really do love you," Boruto confessed quietly.

"I really do love you too."

"Never stop saying that."

"I won't."

The sun began to cross the sky and eventually the two fell asleep deep in exhaustion and bliss. When Sakura finally came home from work, they were dead asleep and still wrapped up in each other's arms. She watched them for a few minutes and reminisced again on her own memories of them as children, cuddled together on the couch after a long day of playing while the adults talked until the early hours of the morning. Now they would be the ones to carry that on while their own children slept.

Their own children.

She shut the door quietly behind her to leave the two in their dreamless and peaceful sleep.

Again let me know if you think the next chapter should showcase their big fight, or if the story should just continue! It'll be chapter 8 and we haven't even seen any babies yet, so it's totally understandable if we just want to get to the point! :)